There, Lavillenie didn’t enter the competition until the 5.80-metre mark, but then unbelievably scratched out at 5.90, having to settle for a bronze in a three-way tie.

Barber started at 5.50, and worked his way up with a clean card to clear 5.90. Even though Raphael Holzdeppe of Germany had jumped the same distance, he did it on his third try as opposed to Barber on his first, and as nobody else in the field could get any higher, the Canadian was awarded gold.

Shawn Barber after winning pole vault gold at IAAF world championships in Beijing on August 24, 2015.

The world championship gold is the only major medal that has eluded 29-year-old Lavillenie. He is the current world leader for 2016 at 5.96. He also holds the world record having cleared a skyscraping 6.16 metres in his career (indoor). No other active pole vaulter even comes close to that mark.